Text information browsing aid apparatus, digital content creation system, digital content distribution system, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A digital content distribution system that is suitable to provide digital content readable and output the digital content in a layout viewable for the user is provided. A content distribution terminal includes a user information registration DB that stores user information, and a dictionary information DB that stores dictionary information. The content distribution terminal selects dictionary information from the dictionary information registration DB based on the user information in the user information registration DB and the content of digital content associated with the user information, and adds the selected dictionary information to the digital content. Accordingly, the user can obtain digital content including only dictionary information of a relatively high necessity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a system for distributing digitalcontent and storage medium. More particularly, the invention relates toa text information browsing aid system, a digital content creationsystem, a digital content distribution system, and a storage mediumwhich are suitable to provide the user with readable digital content.

2. Description of Related Art

Related art apparatuses aid browsing of text information by addingtranslated text or translation of particular words in association withoriginal text information, for example, in English.

Examples of such apparatuses include a foreign language publication withdisplay of interpretation, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 62-86385 (hereinafter referred to as a“first conventional example”), a printing apparatus disclosed inJapanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-80319(hereinafter referred to as a “second conventional art”), a machinetranslation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 5-334350 (hereinafter referred to as a“third conventional art”), and a machine translation apparatus disclosedin Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-121539(hereinafter referred to as a “fourth conventional art”).

The first conventional art is print paper on which, in addition to amulticolumned foreign language text, interpretations, includingtranslation of words and phrases in the foreign language text, andsymbols, indicating the structure of sentences, are displayed betweenthe lines. This facilitates interpretation compared with a case wheretranslations, comments, and expositions regarding the foreign languagetext are all provided in the front or back section.

The second conventional art is a printing apparatus for printing aplurality of articles in a pair, which includes a determination devicefor determining the vertical width of a pair of articles being printed;a print position prediction device for predicting the print position ofthe articles by the printer based on the result of the determination bythe determination device and the current print position; and a new pageoperation instruction device for instructing a new page operation basedon the result of the prediction by the print position prediction deviceand the maximum print position. This clarifies the association betweenthe pair of articles.

The third conventional art includes process S2 for obtaining and storingthe layout information of an input original text, process S3 fortranslating the original text into another language, and process S4 forreformatting the translation result in accordance with the stored layoutinformation. Thus, the translated text is automatically output in aformat which readily allows confirmation of the correspondence betweenthe translated text and the original text.

The forth conventional example includes, in addition to a conventionalmachine translation apparatus, a layout structure storage device, a wordspecification device, a character drawing device, and a font datastorage device, so that translation is drawn in an image data storagedevice by using the character drawing device and the translation isoutput between the lines of image data of the original text on a displaydevice. Alternatively, an arbitrary word is specified by using the wordspecification device, and then translation is drawn in the image datastorage device by using the character drawing device and output at aposition associated with the word between the lines of image data of theoriginal text on display device. Thus, the output result includesfigures, tables, and English text which appear in the original document,enhancing the readability of the result of translation by the machinetranslation apparatus and facilitating understanding of the translateddocument.

Furthermore, an example of a conventional system for providing digitalcontent, such as news, is a personal electronic newspaper systemdisclosed in Japanese Unexanined Patent Application Publication No.4-192751 (hereinafter referred to as a “fifth conventional example”). Inaddition, an example of technique related to providing digital contentis a mail order catalog creation system disclosed in Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 7-200701 (hereinafter referred to asa “sixth conventional example”).

The fifth conventional example is an electronic newspaper system whichreceives article information transmitted from an article informationdatabase storing article information regarding newspaper articles, andwhich then reconstructs the article information for display on thescreen. The electronic newspaper system includes an information storageunit for storing interest and knowledge of a plurality of users as aplurality of personal newspaper composing information; a learning unitfor learning personal newspaper composing information from the searchinghistory of the user; a screen operation unit for operating the screen inorder to obtain personal newspaper composing information and forobtaining article information in accordance with the user based on thepersonal newspaper composing information from the database andreconstructing the article information for display; and a control unitfor controlling the information storage unit, the learning unit, and thescreen operation unit.

This readily allows the user to obtain article information in accordancewith personal interest and knowledge, and thus more detailed articleinformation can be provided.

In the sixth conventional example, a product information file includingproduct information to be shown on catalogs of the products (image ordescription of the products), a customer information file includingpersonal information regarding particular properties of each customer,and a product condition file in which conditions matching each of theproperties of the personal information are set for each of the products,are prepared. A product list extraction unit compares the personalinformation in the customer information file with the conditions in theproduct condition file, extracting only those products which match theconditions for each individual customer. A layout processing unit readsand lays out product information for the extracted products. A colorelectronic printer outputs on paper the product information which hasbeen laid out, and the paper is bound into a booklet by a processing andbinding machine, and sent to the customer as a catalog.

This allows creation of customer-specific catalogs on which onlyproducts suitable for each individual customer are listed.

The first to fourth conventional examples, however, output the sameresult for the same original text with no regard to the user. Thus, forexample, even translated text or translated word, which the user isalready familiar with and is not of importance, might be added to theoriginal text.

That is, some users wish, instead of the entire original text beingtranslated, only translations of articles or words necessary inaccordance with the user's knowledge level to be added, from theperspective of reducing the amount of the entire text and enhancingreadability.

This is not limited to addition of translation to original text, and thesame applies, for example, to a case where information which aidsbrowsing of text information such as comments and expositions isautomatically added to the text information.

Article information distributed by a digital content distribution systemhas hitherto typically been composed mostly of text information, such asarticle information which is distributed in an electronic mail format.This has been the case because a large volume of data cannot betransmitted in an effective time period due to slow network transmissionrates, for instance. Thus, in most cases, the article information whichis distributed has only needed browsing on the screen, and there hasbeen little need for printing. Even when the article information isprinted, it suffices if the text information can be read, and thus therehas been little need for considering the layout. However, with therecent enhancements in network transmission rate, it will be possible todistribute image information as well as text information in the future.In that case, browsing on the screen has the shortcoming in that it doesnot readily allow understanding of the overall article information.Thus, it is assumed that many users will wish to print the articleinformation which has been distributed and browse the articleinformation on paper.

In the fifth conventional example, the article information will beactually browsed by using a WWW browser; however, when the articleinformation displayed on the screen with the WWW browser is printed, apiece of article information might not be contained in a sheet of paperand might be printed over a plurality of sheets of paper, considerablydegrading the viewability of the print result. In particular, when animage and text information are combined to form a piece of articleinformation, the image and the text information might be printed onseparate sheets of paper. This hinders the user's understanding of theassociation of the text information and the image. As a result, the usermay be prevented from understanding the overall article information andeven the content of individual article information.

When the sixth conventional example is applied to a digital contentdistribution system, the problems previously described are solved to acertain degree by reading and laying out product information ofextracted products. However, the output layout of a catalog isdetermined by the distributor of the catalog, and the catalog is printedin a predetermined output layout presumably viewable for the user. Thus,the catalog is viewable on average, but is not necessarily viewable forevery user. That is, some users may feel larger font of text informationenhances viewability, while other users may feel a smaller area for textinformation and a larger area for image enhances viewability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the unsolved problems pertinent to therelated art as discussed above, and an object thereof is to provide atext information browsing aid system which is suitable to provide theuser with readable text information. Another object thereof is toprovide a digital content creation system, a digital contentdistribution system, and a storage medium which are suitable to providethe user with readable digital content and to output the digital contentin a viewable layout for the user.

In order to achieve the above objects, a text information browsing aidsystem according a first aspect of the present invention is an apparatusthat aids browsing of text information, including: a user informationstorage device that stores user information regarding a user; and a textinformation processing device that processes the text information basedon the user information in the user information storage device. Based onthe user information in the user information storage device and thecontent of the text information associated with the user information,the text information processing device processes text information into aform which presumably most suitably aids browsing of the textinformation by the user associated with the user information.

In accordance with the arrangement, based on the user information in theuser information storage device and the text information associated withthe user information, the text information processing device processestext information into a form which presumably most suitably aidsbrowsing of the text information by the user associated with the userinformation.

Any arrangement of the text information processing device can be used aslong as it processes the text information into a form which presumablymost suitably aids browsing of the text information by the userassociated with the user information based on the user information. Forexample, it may add dictionary information in accordance with the user'sknowledge level to the text information based on the user information,or it may display subjects in red and verbs in green in articlesincluded in the original text in accordance with the user's knowledgelevel based on the user information.

The user information storage device stores the user information by anydevice/method and at any time, and it may store the user information inadvance. Or, the user information storage device may be enabled by anexternal input to store the user information when the system is inoperation, instead of storing the user information in advance.Hereinafter, the same applies to a digital content creation systemaccording to a third aspect of the invention, and a digital contentdistribution system according to a ninth aspect of the invention.

The system may be implemented in the form of a single apparatus, or maybe implemented as a network system in which a plurality of terminals arecommunicatively connected. In the latter case, each of the componentsmay belong to any of the plurality of terminals as long as thecomponents are communicatively connected to each other. Hereinafter, thesame applies to the digital content creation system according to thethird aspect of the invention and the digital content distributionsystem according to the ninth aspect of the invention.

Furthermore, a text information browsing aid apparatus according to asecond aspect of the present invention is a text information browsingaid system according to the first aspect, wherein based on the userinformation in the user information storage device and the content ofthe text information associated with the user information, the textinformation processing device associates browsing aid information whichaids browsing of the text information with the text information.

In accordance with the arrangement, based on the user information in theuser information storage device and the content of the text informationassociated with the user information, the text information processingdevice associates browsing aid information which aids browsing of thetext information with the text information.

The browsing aid information is information that aids browsing of textinformation, and includes, for example, information regardingtranslation, comments, and expositions for text included in the textinformation.

As long as the browsing aid information is associated with the textinformation, the association may be made, for example, by adding thebrowsing aid information to the text information or adding referenceinformation which allows the browsing aid information to be obtained(e.g., URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) to the text information.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above objects, a digital contentcreation system according to a third aspect of the present invention isa system that creates digital content, including: a user informationstorage device that stores user information regarding a user; adictionary information storage device that stores dictionaryinformation; a dictionary information selection device that selects thedictionary information from the dictionary information storage devicebased on the user information in the user information storage device andthe content of digital content associated with the user information; anda dictionary information association device that associates thedictionary information selected by the dictionary information selectiondevice with the digital content.

In accordance with the arrangement, a dictionary information selectiondevice selects dictionary information from the dictionary informationstorage device based on the user information in the user informationstorage device and the content of digital content associated with theuser information, and the dictionary information association deviceassociates the selected dictionary information with the digital content.

As long as the dictionary information is associated with the digitalcontent, the association may be made, for example, by adding thedictionary information to the digital content or by adding referenceinformation which allows the dictionary information to be obtained(e.g., URL) to the digital content. Hereinafter, the same applies to thedigital content distribution system according to the ninth aspect.

The dictionary information association device may directly add thedictionary information selected by the dictionary information selectiondevice to the digital content. From the perspective of enhancingreadability, however, it is preferable that character decoration beadded to emphasize the dictionary information selected by the dictionaryinformation selection device. Hereinafter, the same applies to thedigital content distribution system according to the ninth aspect.

The digital content with which the dictionary information has beenassociated may be distributed to the user, or may be stored in a storagedevice for access and retrieval from a client terminal by the user.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to a fourthaspect of the present invention is a digital content creation systemaccording to the third aspect, wherein the user information includesinterest information regarding the interest or preference of the user,and the dictionary information selection device selects dictionaryinformation which matches the interest or preference of the user fromthe dictionary information storage device based on the interestinformation in the user information storage device.

In accordance with the arrangement, the dictionary information selectiondevice selects dictionary information that matches the interest orpreference of the user from the dictionary information storage devicebased on the interest information in the user information storagedevice.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to a fifthaspect of the present invention is a digital content creation systemaccording to one of the third and fourth aspects, wherein the dictionaryinformation selection means selects dictionary information related towords or sentences included in the digital content from the dictionaryinformation storage device based on the user information in the userinformation storage device.

In accordance with the arrangement, the dictionary information selectiondevice selects dictionary information related to words or sentencesincluded in the digital content from the dictionary information storagedevice based on the user information in the user information storagedevice.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to a sixthaspect of the present invention is a digital content creation systemaccording to one of the third to fifth aspects, including a contenttranslation device that translates text information included in thedigital content, wherein when a plurality of translations exists ascandidates for the same word in the result of translation by the contenttranslation device, the dictionary information selection devicedetermines a presumably most suitable translation from the plurality oftranslations based on the content of the digital content, and selectstranslations as the dictionary information from the translations whichhave been determined, based on the user information in the userinformation storage device.

In accordance with the arrangement, the content translation devicetranslates the digital content, and when a plurality of translationsexists as candidates for the same word in the result of translation, thedictionary information selection device determines a presumably mostsuitable translation from the plurality of translations based on thecontent of the digital content, and selects translations as dictionaryinformation from the translations which have been determined, based onthe user information in the user information storage device.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to a seventhaspect of the present invention is a digital content creation systemaccording to one of the third to sixth aspects, including a contentlayout device that lays out digital content with the dictionaryinformation associated therewith in an output layout which is determinedbased on the user information in the user information storage device.

In accordance with the arrangement, the content layout device lays outdigital content with the dictionary information associated therewith inan output layout which is determined based on the user information inthe user information storage device.

The output layout includes a display layout that displays browsinginformation on the screen, and a print layout that prints the browsinginformation on paper. Hereinafter, the same applies to a digital contentdistribution system according to the ninth aspect.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to an eighthaspect of the present invention is a digital content creation systemaccording to one of the third to seventh aspects, wherein the userinformation includes association limit information regarding an upperlimit number or a lower limit number for dictionary information to beassociated with the digital content, and the dictionary informationassociation device associates the dictionary information selected by thedictionary information selection device with the digital content basedon the association limit information in the user information storagedevice.

In accordance with the arrangement, the dictionary informationassociation device associates the selected dictionary information withthe digital content based on the association limit information in theuser information storage device.

The association limit information is not limited to setting of an upperlimit number or a lower limit number in actual value, and the upperlimit number or the lower limit number may be set by ratio, for example,the upper limit ratio to the text information included in the digitalcontent.

Furthermore, a digital content distribution system according to theninth aspect of the present invention is a system that distributesdigital content, including: a user information storage device thatstores user information regarding a user; a dictionary informationstorage device that stores dictionary information; a dictionaryinformation selection device that selects the dictionary informationfrom the dictionary information storage device based on the userinformation in the user information storage device and the content ofdigital content associated with the user information; a dictionaryinformation association device that associates the dictionaryinformation selected by the dictionary information selection device withthe digital content; a content layout device that lays out the digitalcontent with the dictionary information associated therewith in anoutput layout which is determined based on the user information in theuser information storage device; and a content distribution device thatdistributes the digital content laid out by the content layout device tothe user.

In accordance with the arrangement, the dictionary information selectiondevice selects dictionary information from the dictionary informationstorage device based on the user information in the user informationstorage device and the content of digital content associated with theuser information, and the dictionary information association deviceassociates the selected dictionary information with the digital content.The content layout device lays out the digital content with thedictionary information associated therewith in an output layout which isdetermined based on the user information in the user information storagedevice, and the content distribution device distributes to the user thedigital content which has been laid out.

Furthermore, a digital content creation system according to a tenthaspect of the present invention is a digital content distribution systemaccording to the ninth aspect, including: a content storage device thatstores a plurality of digital contents; and a content selection devicethat selects the digital content from the content storage device basedon the user information in the user information storage device. Thedictionary information selection device selects the dictionaryinformation from the dictionary information storage device based on theuser information in the user information storage device and the contentof the digital content selected by the content selection device, and thedictionary information association device associates the dictionaryinformation selected by the dictionary information selection device withthe digital content selected by the content selection device.

In accordance with the arrangement, the content selection device selectsdigital content from the content storage device based on the userinformation in the user information storage device, and the dictionaryinformation selection device selects dictionary information from thedictionary information storage device based on the user information inthe user information storage device and the content of the digitalcontent selected by the content selection device. The dictionaryinformation association device associates the selected dictionaryinformation with the selected digital content.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above objects, a storage mediumstoring a content distribution program according to an eleventh aspectof the present invention is a computer-readable storage medium thatstores a content distribution program for distributing digital content.The storage medium including a user information storage program forstoring user information regarding a user; a dictionary informationstorage program for storing dictionary information; a dictionaryinformation selection program for selecting the dictionary informationfrom the dictionary information storage program based on the userinformation in the user information storage program and the content ofdigital content associated with the user information; a dictionaryinformation association program for associating the dictionaryinformation selected by the dictionary information selection programwith the digital content; a content layout program for laying out thedigital content with the dictionary information associated therewith inan output layout which is determined based on the user information inthe user information storage program; and a content distribution programfor distributing the digital content laid out by the content layoutprogram to the user.

In accordance with the arrangement, a content distribution programstored on a storage medium is read by a computer, and the computerexecutes a process according to the program which has been read, therebyenabling an operation equivalent to the digital content distributionsystem according to the ninth aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic showing the configuration of a network system towhich the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing the construction of a content distributionterminal 100;

FIG. 3 is a chart showing the data structure of a user profile table300;

FIG. 4(a) is a schematic showing the data structures of a layoutdefinition file, and FIG. 4(b) is a layout No. association table 330;

FIG. 5(a) is a schematic showing the data structures of digital content,and FIG. 5(b) is a category No. association table 340;

FIG. 6 is a chart showing the data structure of a dictionary informationregistration DB 44;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a user registration process;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a content distribution process;

FIG. 9 is a schematic showing a user ID, etc. input screen;

FIG. 10 is a schematic showing a category, etc. specification screen;

FIG. 11 is a schematic showing an output layout, etc. specificationscreen; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic of a registration content confirmation screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 12 are diagrams showing a textinformation browsing aid system, a digital content creation system, adigital content distribution system, and a storage medium according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a text information browsing aid system, a digitalcontent creation system, a digital content distribution system, and astorage medium according to the present invention are applied to a casewhere a content distribution terminal 100 distributes digital content,such as news to a user terminal 200, as shown in FIG. 1.

First, the configuration of a network system to which the presentinvention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1is a schematic showing the network system to which the present inventionis applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of content providing terminals S₁ toS_(n) which provide digital content, a content distribution terminal 100which collects, stores, and distributes the digital content provided bythe content providing terminals S₁ to S_(n), and a user terminal 200 forthe user are connected to the Internet 199. Although only one usertermiinal 200 is shown in order to facilitate understanding of thepresent invention, a plurality of user terminals can actually beconnected to the Internet 199.

The content providing terminals S₁ to S_(n) are constructed so as tohave the same functionality as an ordinary computer in which a CPU, aROM, a RAM and an I/F are connected via a bus. When digital content iscreated, the content providing terminals S₁ to S_(n) add to the digitalcontent a category No. to identify the category of the digital content,and transmit it to the content distribution terminal 100. The categoryNo. will be described below in more detail.

The user terminal 200 is constructed so as to have the samefunctionality as an ordinary personal computer in which a CPU, ROM, aRAM and an I/F are connected via a bus. The user terminal 200 has a WWWbrowser, and it accesses the content distribution terminal 100 using theWWW browser.

Next, the structure of the content distribution terminal 100 will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematicshowing the structure of the content distribution terminal 100.

As shown in FIG. 2, the content distribution terminal 100 includes a CPU30 which controls operations and the overall system according to acontrol program, a ROM 32 in a specific area of which the controlprogram for the CPU 30 are stored in advance, a RAM 34 which stores dataread from the ROM 32 and operation results required in the course ofoperations by the CPU 30, and an I/F which intermediates data input andoutput from and to external apparatuses, being connected to each otherso as to allow exchange of data via a bus 39 which is a signal line totransfer data.

A user information registration database (hereinafter abbreviated simplyas “DB”) 40 in which user information is registered, a contentregistration DB 42 in which the digital content provided by the contentproviding terminals S₁ to S_(n) are collected and stored, a dictionaryinformation registration DB 44 in which dictionary information, such asan English-Japanese dictionary, is registered, and a signal line forconnection with the Internet 199, are connected to the I/F 38 as theexternal apparatuses.

The user information registration database 40 stores a user profiletable 300 on which user information is registered, as shown in FIG. 3.FIG. 3 is a chart showing the data structure of the user profile table300.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user profile table 300 allows registration of asingle record or a plurality of records for each user. Each recordincludes a field 302 in which a user ID for identifying a user isregistered, a field 304 in which a destination address of digitalcontent is registered, a field 306 in which a category No. isregistered, a field 308 in which a keyword is registered, a field 310 inwhich a distribution date is registered, a field 312 in which adistribution time is registered, a field 314 in which a layout No. isregistered, a field 316 in which a maximum number of pages isregistered, a field 318 in which a font size is registered, a field 319in which fields of the user's interest are registered, a field 320 inwhich the linguistic level of the user is registered, a field 322 inwhich the expertise level of the user is registered, and a field 324 inwhich languages for which the user desires translation are registered.

In the field 308, when digital content, including a keyword specified bythe user, is to be selected for distribution, the keyword is registered.The keyword is, for example, one which presumably appears frequently inarticles of a category of the user's interest. In the example shown inFIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field 308, “processor”,“OS”, and “application” are registered, respectively.

In the field 310, a distribution date on which the user desires thedigital content to be distributed is registered. The distribution dateis specified as, for example, “every day” if the digital content isdesired to be distributed every day, “weekdays” if the digital contentis desired to be distributed only on weekdays, and “weekend” if thedigital content is desired to be distributed only on weekend. In theexample shown in FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field310, “every day”, “weekdays”, and “weekend” are registered,respectively.

In the field 312, a distribution time of the specified distribution dateon which the user desires the digital content to be distributed isregistered. The distribution date is specified, for example, as one of 0o'clock to 23 o'clock in the 24-hour representation. In the exampleshown in FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field 312, “5o'clock”, “11 o'clock”, and “9 o'clock” are registered, respectively.

In the field 314, a layout No. that specifies the output layout ofdigital content is registered. As the layout No., for example, a layoutNo. identifying an output layout desired by the user is specified. Inthe example shown in FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field314, “layout No. 2”, “layout No. 5”, and “layout No. 6” are respectivelyregistered. The layout No. will be described below in more detail.

In the field 316, a maximum number of pages of a display or a print ofdigital content is registered. As the maximum number of pages, forexample, an upper limit of the number of pages may be specified, orabsence of the upper limit may be specified by an indication of “u”. Inthe example shown in FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field316, “two pages”, “two pages”, and “u” are registered, respectively.

In the field 318, a font size with which digital content is displayed orprinted is registered. In the example shown in FIG. 3, in the first tothe third rows of the field 318, “small”, “small”, and “regular” areregistered, respectively.

In the field 319, fields of the user's interest are registered. In theexample shown in FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field319, “computer and sports”, “securities”, and “medicine” are registered,respectively. As will be described below in more detail, the fields ofinterest registered in the field 319 are used as an index to selectparticular dictionary information from the dictionary informationregistration DB 44, and the fields may overlap with or differ from thecategory registered in the field 306. For example, a user interested inthe field of computer may wish to receive distribution of digitalcontent in the field of sports as well as in the field of computer. Inthat case, category Nos. associated with the field of sports and thefield of computer are registered in the field 306, and the field ofcomputer is registered in the field 319.

In the field 320, the linguistic level of the user is registered. Forexample, the user is given a test based on criteria employed in apredetermined language proficiency certification test, and the testscore of the user is set as the linguistic level. In the example shownin FIG. 3, in the first to the third rows of the field 320, “720”,“420”, and “700” are registered, respectively. In this case, a greatervalue indicates a higher linguistic level.

In the field 322, the expertise level of the user is registered. Forexample, the user is given a test based on criteria employed in apredetermined expertise certification test and a qualification test, andthe test score of the user is set as the expertise level. In the exampleshown in FIG. 3, in the second row of the field 322, “securities: rankA” is registered. This indicates an expertise level of A rank in thefield of securities, the expertise level being higher in thealphabetically descending order.

In the field 324, languages for which the user desires translation areregistered. In the example shown in FIG. 3, in the first to the thirdrows of the field 324, “English”, “English and French”, and “Chinese”are registered, respectively.

The user information registration database DB 40 also stores a pluralityof layout definition files form01 to form06 defining output layouts ofdigital content, and a layout No. association table 330 showing anassociation between the layout definition files form01 to form06 andlayout Nos. as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). FIG. 4(a) is a schematicshowing the data structures of the layout definition files, and FIG.4(b) shows the layout No. association table 330.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the layout definition files form01 to form06define, for example, the size and location in the print area on paper ofa text information frame that stores text information and imagesincluded in digital content, the font size, type, and color of the textinformation, character spacing and line pitch, and the number, quality,size, and ratio of the images, and are described, for example, in XML(eXtensible Markup Language).

In the layout No. association table 330, one record is registered foreach layout No., as shown in FIG. 4(b). Each record includes a field 332in which a layout No. is registered, and a field 334 in which the filename of layout definition file is registered. In the example shown inFIG. 4(b), in the record on the first row, “1 ”is registered as thelayout definition No. and “form01 ”is registered as the name of layoutdefinition file, respectively.

The content registration DB 42 stores digital content provided by thecontent providing terminals S₁ to Sn, and a category association table340 showing an association between main categories and subcategories andcategory Nos. FIG. 5(a) is a schematic showing the data structures ofthe digital content, and FIG. 5(b) is a schematic showing the categoryNo. association table 340.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), a category No. is assigned to the digital contentprovided by the content providing terminals S₁ to S_(n), so that thecontent distribution terminal 100 classifies the digital content bycategory based on the category No. and registers the digital content inthe content registration DB 42. The digital content is registered with,in addition to the category No., a main category and a subcategoryassigned thereto with reference to the category No. association table340.

In the category No. association table 340, one record is registered foreach main category and subcategory, as shown in FIG. 5(b). Each recordincludes a field 342 in which a category No. is registered, a field 344in which a main category is registered, and a field 346 in which asubcategory is registered. In the example shown in FIG. 5(b), in therecord on the first row, “1102” is registered as the category No.,“world news” is registered as the main category, and “America” isregistered as the subcategory, respectively.

The dictionary information registration DB 44 stores an English-Japanesedictionary registration table 360 in which an English-Japanesedictionary is registered. FIG. 6 is a table showing the data structureof the dictionary information registration DB 44.

In the English-Japanese dictionary registration table 360, one record isregistered for each English word, as shown in FIG. 6. Each recordincludes a field 362 in which an English word is registered, a field 364in which translations of the English word in the field 362 areregistered, and a field 366 in which a linguistic level presumablyrequired for translation of the English word in the field 362 isregistered, and a field 368 in which an expertise level presumablyrequired to understand the English word in the field 362 is registered.In the example shown in FIG. 6, in the record on the first row,“company” is registered as the English word, “kaisha, shousha, andshoukai” are registered as the translations, “400” is registered as thelinguistic level, and “general” is registered as the expertise level,respectively.

Although not shown, the dictionary information registration DB 44additionally includes a technical term dictionary registration table inwhich a technical term dictionary of a technical field, such ascomputer, is registered, an exposition dictionary registration table inwhich an exposition dictionary is registered, a synonym dictionaryregistration table in which a synonym dictionary is registered, anantonym dictionary registration table in which an antonym dictionary isregistered, and a related term dictionary registration table in which arelated term dictionary is registered. In the related term dictionary,for example, news concerning “I Love You virus” is registered asdictionary information for the word “virus”.

Next, the structure of the CPU 30 and processes executed by the CPU 30will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

The CPU includes, for example, a microprocessing unit MPU, and itactivates a predetermined program stored in a predetermined area of theROM 32 and executes the user registration process and the contentdistribution process shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8,respectively, according to the program by time division.

First, the user registration process will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the user registrationprocess.

In the user registration process, a user which has accessed is requestedto input necessary user information including a user ID, and the userinformation which has been input is registered in the user profile table300. When the user registration process is executed by the CPU 30,first, the process enters step S100, as shown in FIG. 7. The inputs insubsequent steps will be made by interactive communications with theuser.

In step S100, a user ID is input. The process proceeds to step S102, inwhich a main category and a subcategory are input The process proceedsto step S104, in which a destination address is input. The processproceeds to step S106, in which a distribution date and a distributiontime are input. The process then proceeds to step S108.

In step S108, a layout No. is input. The process proceeds to step S110,in which a maximum number of pages is input. The process proceeds tostep S112, in which a font size is input. The process then proceeds tostep S113.

In step S113, fields of interest are input. The process proceeds to stepS14, in which languages desired to be translated are input. The processproceeds to step S116, in which the linguistic level of the user istested based on criteria employed in a predetermined languageproficiency certification test. The process proceeds to step S118, inwhich the linguistic level of the user is calculated based on the scoreof the test. The process then proceeds to step S120.

In step S120, the expertise level of the user is tested based oncriteria employed in a predetermined expertise certification test or aqualification test. The process proceeds to step S122, in which theexpertise level of the user is calculated based on the score of thetest. The process then proceeds to step S124.

In step S124, the user information which has been input in steps S100 toS114, S118, and S122 is registered in the user profile table 300. Theprocess then exits the series of processes, returning to the previousprocess.

Next, the content distribution process will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the contentdistribution process.

In the content distribution process, digital content is distributed tothe user terminal 200 with reference to the user profile table 300. Whenthe content distribution process is executed by the CPU 30, initially,as shown in FIG. 8, the process enters step S200. The processes in thesubsequent steps deal with one record in the user profile table 300. Theprocesses in the subsequent steps are actually executed for the numberof the records registered in the user profile table 300.

In step S200, the distribution date and the distribution time are readfrom the user profile table 300. The process proceeds to step S202, inwhich it is determined whether the date and time when the digitalcontent is to be distributed have been reached based on the distributiondate and the distribution time which have been read. If it is determinedthat the date and time when the digital content is to be distributedhave been reached (Yes), the process proceeds to step S204, whereasotherwise (No), the process proceeds to step S200.

In step S204, the category No. is read from the user profile table 300.The process proceeds to step S206, in which the digital content in thecontent registration DB 42 is searched based on the category No. whichhas been read, whereby digital content with a matching category No.assigned thereto is retrieved. The process proceeds to step S207, inwhich the languages desired to be translated are read from the userprofile table 300. The process then proceeds to step S208.

In step S208, of the text information included in the digital contentwhich has been retrieved, read-out words and sentences in the languagesdesired to be translated are translated into a predetermined language(e.g., Japanese) by using the dictionary information in the dictionaryinformation registration DB 44. The process proceeds to step S210, inwhich it is determined whether a plurality of candidate translationsexists for the same word. If it is determined that a plurality ofcandidate translations exists (Yes), the process proceeds to step S212.

In step S212, based on the content of the text information included inthe digital content which has been retrieved (e.g., context andtranslations preceding and following the word for which a plurality ofcandidate translations exists), a most suitable translation isdetermined from the plurality of translations. The process proceeds tostep S214, in which the fields of interest, the linguistic level, andthe expertise level are read from the user profile table 300. Theprocess then proceeds to step S216.

In step S216, based on the fields of interest, the linguistic level, andthe expertise level which have been read, translations are selected fromthe results of the translation in step S208 or the translationsdetermined in step S212. More specifically, translations which match theread-out fields of interest are selected from the results of thetranslation in step S208 or the translations determined in step S212.Then, the linguistic levels and the expertise levels associated with theselected translation are read from the dictionary informationregistration DB 44, and the linguistic levels and the expertise levelsassociated with the translations are respectively compared with thelinguistic level and the expertise level of the user. If it is found, asa result of the comparison, that the linguistic level associated with atranslation is higher than the linguistic level of the user or theexpertise level associated with the translation is higher than theexpertise level of the user, the translation is selected as dictionaryinformation to be added to the digital content.

The process then proceeds to step S218, in which dictionary informationis read from the dictionary information registration DB 44 based on thefields of interest, the linguistic level, and the expertise level whichhave been read, and the content of the text information included in thedigital content which has been retrieved. More specifically, first, instep S206, words are extracted from the text information included in thedigital content retrieved in step S206, and words which match the fieldsof interest which has been read are selected from the extracted words.Then, the linguistic levels and the expertise levels associated with theselected words are read from the dictionary information registration DB44, and the linguistic levels and the expertise levels associated withthe words are respectively compared with the linguistic level and theexpertise level of the user. If it is found, as a result of thecomparison, that the linguistic level associated with a word is higherthan the linguistic level of the user or the expertise level associatedwith the word is higher than the expertise level of the user, dictionaryinformation associated with the word is read from the dictionaryinformation registration DB 44.

Then, the process proceeds to step S220, in which the dictionaryinformation selected in steps S216 and S218 is added to the digitalcontent. The process proceeds to step S222, in which the layout No. isread from the user profile table 300. The process proceeds to step S224,in which the layout definition file associated with the layout No. whichhas been read is read from the user information registration DB 40 withreference to the layout No. association table 330. The process proceedsto step S226, in which an automatic layout process is executed to layout the digital content in an output layout determined based on thelayout definition file which has been read. The process then proceeds tostep S228.

In step S228, the destination address is read from the user profiletable 300. The process proceeds to step S230, in which the digitalcontent which has been created is distributed to the destination addresswhich has been read. The process then exits the series of processes andreturns to the previous process.

If it is determined in step S210 that a plurality of candidatetranslations does not exist for the same word (No), the process proceedsto step S214.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described with referenceto FIGS. 9 to 12.

First, registration of information required for distribution of digitalcontent will be described.

When the user desires distribution of digital content, the user accessesthe content distribution terminal 100 using a WWW browser on the userterminal 200, and inputs a user registration request.

When the user registration request is input, the user terminal 200receives screen constitution data which constitutes a user ID, etc.input screen to input a user ID, etc. by a communication with thecontent distribution terminal 100, and displays a screen as shown inFIG. 9 based on the screen constitution data. FIG. 9 is a schematicshowing the user ID, etc. input screen.

As shown in FIG. 9, the user inputs a user ID, a password, and adestination address by inputting values, text strings in text boxes 530to 532, respectively. When the input of the user ID, etc. is complete,the user clicks an “OK” button 526.

When the input of the user ID, etc. is complete, the user terminal 200transmits the user ID, etc. to the content distribution terminal 100.Then, a screen as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed by a communication withthe content distribution terminal 100. FIG. 10 is a schematic showing acategory, etc. specification screen.

As shown in FIG. 10, the user is allowed to specify up to six categoriesof digital content for which the user desires distribution. Thecategories of digital content are specified, for example, by selectingdesired categories in combo boxes 520 to 525 in which a list ofcategories is registered.

The user also inputs a distribution date and a distribution time onwhich the user desires distribution. The distribution date is input, forexample, by selecting one of option buttons 540 to 543 for “every day”,“every week”, “weekdays (from Monday through Friday)”, and “on weekend(Saturday and Sunday)”. The distribution time is input, for example, byselecting a desired distribution time in combo boxes 550 and 551 inwhich a list of distribution times is registered. When the inputs arecomplete, the user clicks an “OK” button 552.

When the specification of the categories is complete, the user terminal200 transmits the specification of the categories to the contentdistribution terminal 100. Then, a screen as shown in FIG. 11 isdisplayed by a communication with the content distribution terminal 100.FIG. 11 is a schematic showing an output layout, etc. specificationscreen.

As shown in FIG. 11, the user specifies the layout No., the maximumnumber of pages, and the font size. The layout No. is specified, forexample, by selecting one of the six option buttons 560 to 565respectively corresponding to sample images laid out according to eachof the output layouts. The maximum number of pages is specified, forexample, by selecting one of the option buttons 570 to 574 for “twopages”, “four pages”, “six pages”, “eight pages”, and “no upper limit”.The font size is specified, for example, by selecting one of the optionbuttons 580 to 582 for “small”, “regular”, and “large”. When thespecifications are complete, the user clicks an “OK” button 583.

When the specifications of the output layout, etc. is complete, the userterminal 200 transmits the specifications of the output layout, etc. tothe content distribution terminal 100. Then, although not shown, a userknowledge information input screen to input the user's knowledgeinformation is displayed by a cammunication with the contentdistribution terminal 100.

The user inputs fields of interest and languages desired to betranslated in the same manner as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, and takespredetermined tests with respect to the linguistic level and theexpertise level. The linguistic level and the expertise level of theuser are calculated by the predetermined tests being taken by the user.

When the input of the user's knowledge information is complete, the userterminal 200 transmits the knowledge information to the contentdistribution terminal 100. Then, a screen as shown in FIG. 12 isdisplayed by a communication with the content distribution terminal 100.FIG. 12 is a schematic showing a registration information confirmationscreen.

In the example shown in FIG. 12, the specification of the categories isdisplayed as “sports; golf; Maruyama”, and “America; American top news;Bush”. If the registration information is correct, the user clicks a“distribution start” button 590.

When the confirmation of the registration information is complete, theuser terminal 200 transmits a distribution start request to the contentdistribution terminal 100.

Upon receiving the distribution start request, in steps S100 to S114,the content distribution terminal 100 registers the specification ofcontent, the user ID, etc., and the specifications of output layout,etc. which have been received in the user profile table 300. Thespecification of content is registered in terms of a content No. withreference to the content No. association table 340, and thespecification of output layout is registered in terms of a layout No.with reference to the layout No. association table 330.

Next, distribution of digital content with reference to the user profiletable 300 will be described.

When the date and time for distribution of digital content withreference to the user profile table 300 have been reached, in steps S204to S212, the content distribution terminal 100 reads the category No.from the user profile table 300, performs a search based on the categoryNo. which has been read, and retrieves the digital content to which acategory No. matching the category No. is assigned. Then, the languagesdesired to be translated are read from the user profile table 300, andwords and sentences in the languages to be translated in the textinformation included in the digital content which has been retrieved aretranslated, for example, into Japanese. If a plurality of candidatetranslations exists for the same word in the translation result, apresumably most suitable translation is determined from the plurality ofcandidate translations based on the content of the text informationincluded in the digital content which has been retrieved.

Then, in steps S214 and S216, the fields of interest, the linguisticlevel, and the expertise level are read from the user profile table 300,and translations are selected from the translation result based on thefields of interest, the linguistic level, and the expertise level whichhave been read. With regard to the selection of translations, first,translations which match the read-out fields of interest are selected,and the linguistic levels and the expertise levels associated with theselected translations are read from the dictionary informationregistration DB 44. Then, if the linguistic level associated with atranslation is higher than the linguistic level of the user or theexpertise level associated with the translation is higher than theexpertise level of the user, the translation is selected as dictionaryinformation.

Then, in step S218, the dictionary information is read from thedictionary information registration DB 44 based on the fields ofinterest, the linguistic level, and the expertise level which have beenread and the content of the text information included in the digitalcontent which has been retrieved. With regard to the reading of thedictionary information, first, words are extracted from the textinformation included in the digital content, words which match thefields of interest are selected from the extracted words, and thelinguistic levels and the expertise levels associated with the selectedwords are read from the dictionary information registration DB 44. Ifthe linguistic level associated with a word is higher than thelinguistic level of the user or the expertise level associated with theword is higher than the expertise level of the user, dictionaryinformation associated with the word is read from the dictionaryinformation registration DB 44.

Then, in steps S220 to S226, the selected dictionary information isadded to the digital content, the layout No. is read from the userprofile table 300, and the layout definition file corresponding to thelayout No. which has been read is read from the user informationregistration DB 40 with reference to the layout No. association table330. Then, the digital content is laid out according to the outputlayout determined based on the layout definition file which has beenread.

Then, in steps S228 and S230, the destination address is read from theuser profile table 300, and the digital content which has been createdis distributed to the destination address which has been read.

As described above, in this embodiment, the content distributionterminal 100 includes the user information registration DB 40 thatstores user information and the dictionary information registration DB44 storing dictionary information, so that dictionary information isselected from the dictionary information registration DB 44 based on theuser information in the user information registration DB 40 and thecontent of digital content associated with the user information and theselected dictionary information is added to the digital content.

Thus, dictionary information within the knowledge level of the user isnot added, while dictionary information beyond the knowledge level ofthe user is added to the digital content, so that the user can obtaindigital content including only dictionary information of a relativelyhigh necessity. Accordingly, the user is provided with more readabledigital content compared with before.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the content distribution terminal 100selects dictionary information which matches the user's interest orpreference from the dictionary information registration DB 44 based onthe fields of interest in the user information registration DB 40.

Thus, dictionary information which does not match the user's interest orpreference is not added, while dictionary information which matches theuser's interest or preference is added to the digital content, so thatthe user can obtain digital content including only dictionaryinformation of a relatively high necessity. Accordingly, the user isprovided with even more readable digital content.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the content distribution terminal 100selects dictionary information associated with words pr sentencesincluded in the digital content from the dictionary informationregistration DB 44 based on the user information in the user informationregistration DB 40.

Thus, dictionary information associated with the words or sentencesincluded in the digital content are added to the digital content, sothat the user can obtain digital contents including relatively usefuldictionary information. Accordingly, the user is provided with even morereadable digital content.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the content distribution terminal 100translates text information included in the digital content. If aplurality of candidate translations exits for the same word in thetranslation result, the content distribution terminal 100 determines apresumably most suitable translation from the plurality of candidatetranslations based on the content of the digital content, and, based onthe user information in the user information registration DB 40, selectstranslations as dictionary information from the translations which havebeen determined.

Thus, the user can obtain digital content including relatively accuratetranslations. Accordingly, the user is provided with even more readabledigital content.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the content distribution terminal 100determines the output layout of the digital content based on the userinformation in the user information registration DB 40 so as to performthe layout.

Thus, the user information is taken into consideration concerning theoutput layout, so that the digital content is output in an output layoutrelatively desirable for the user. Accordingly, the digital content isoutput in an output layout more viewable for the user compared withbefore.

In particular, in this embodiment, a print layout is determined, and,for example, in the case of printing on paper, the printing will beperformed on a page-by-page basis. Thus, by using a layout in which thecontent is closed on a page-by-page basis, it is possible to view thepages on the screen one by one and to print only desired pages.Furthermore, with a layout in which date is inserted on each page, whenthe digital content is stored as a file, the user enjoys the convenienceof knowing when the article was made from the date.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the content distribution terminal 100includes the content registration DB 42 that stores a plurality ofdigital contents, reads the content No. and the associated layoutdefinition file from the user information registration DB 40, selectsdigital content from the content registration DB 42 based on the contentNo. which has been read, and lays out the selected digital contentaccording to an output layout determined based on the layout definitionfile which has been read.

Thus, only digital content relatively desirable for the user is laidout, reducing difficulty in viewing due to undesired and unnecessarydigital content being included together. Accordingly, the digitalcontent is output in an output layout viewable for the user.

1. A system for creating digital content, comprising: a user informationstorage device that stores user information regarding a user; adictionary information storage device that stores dictionaryinformation; a dictionary information selection device that selects thedictionary information from the dictionary information storage devicebased on the user information in the user information storage device andthe content of digital content associated with the user information; anda dictionary information association device that associates thedictionary information selected by the dictionary information selectiondevice with the digital content.
 2. The system according to claim 1, theuser information including interest information regarding the interestor preference of the user, and the dictionary information selectiondevice selecting dictionary information which matches the interest orpreference of the user from the dictionary information storage devicebased on the interest information in the user information storagedevice.
 3. The system according to claim 1, the dictionary informationselection device selecting dictionary information related to words orsentences included in the digital content from the dictionaryinformation storage device based on the user information in the userinformation storage device.
 4. The system according to claim 1, furtherincluding a content translation device that translates the textinformation included in the digital content, such that, when a pluralityof translations exists as candidates for the same word in the result oftranslation by the content translation device, the dictionaryinformation selection device determines a presumably most suitabletranslation from the plurality of translations based on the content ofthe digital content, and selects translations as the dictionaryinformation from the translations which have been determined.
 5. Thesystem according to claim 1, further including a content layout devicethat lays out digital content with the dictionary information associatedtherewith in an output layout which is determined based on the userinformation in the user information storage device.
 6. The systemaccording to claim 1, the user information including association limitinformation regarding an upper limit number or a lower limit number fordictionary information to be associated with the digital content, andthe dictionary information association device associating the dictionaryinformation selected by the dictionary information selection device withthe digital content based on the association limit information in theuser information storage device.